Ear screen or guard



Sept. 11, 1934. K BURRETT 1 973330 EAR SCREEN OR GUARD Filed July 19, 1933 W for; febecca Patented Sept. 11, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in ear screens or guards.

In the treatment of ladies hair, such as in the art of permanent waving or water waving and in washing, it is customary to direct a blast ofheated air onto the hair for drying the same, but this practice is objectionable, due to sensitivity of the ears and it is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide protecting means for the ears in the form of screens or guards during a hair drying operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ear screen or guard for completely enclosing the ear during a hair drying or other heat treating operation, the screen or guard being of substantially shell form and pear-shaped and constructed of any material desired that may be heat resistant to a certain degree, wax paper or light papier-mach having been found to be suitable for the purpose although. other materials may be employed.

The invention further contemplates the provision of means for holding the ear screens or guards in position during use and may include the usual hair net employed for holding the waves of the hair in set position during drying operation with the hair net overlying the ear screens or guards, or a resilient strip detachably engaged with the screens or guards, it being intended that the screens of guards be constructed of inexpensive material to be discarded after each use thereof.

With the above and other objects in view that will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawing and claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an inner side elevational view of an ear screen or guard constructed in accordance with the present invention and of substantially pear-shape for enclosing the ear of a person;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view showing the marginal flange for head contact;

Figure 31s a vertical cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a front elevational view of another form of screen or guard showing the same oper atively positioned with respect to the head of a person indicated by dotted lines employing a resilient strip for retention in position;

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4, showing the slotted guide on the screen or guard to receive the resilient holding strip;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of another form of the invention wherein the screen or guard is provided with spaced lugs for centering an end of a resilient retaining strip;

Figure '1 is a pictorial representation showing .the ear screens and guards retained in position by a hair net;

Figure 8 is a plan view of a blank constituting another form of the invention; and

Figure 9 is an outer side view of the blank of Figure 8 folded into screen or guard formation.

'I'he screen or guard may be constructed of any material desired, preferably possessing heat resisting characteristics and said screen or guard may be constructed of wax paper, light papiermach or the like. The screen or guard 10 as shown in Figures 1 to 3 and 7 is of shell-formation and substantially pear-shaped, embodying a bulged or arched wall 11 open at one side with the marginal edge of the wall 11 flanged outwardly as at 12 with the outer edge of the flange 12 beaded as at 13 providing a reinforcement therefor, the flange 12 constituting a head engaging element with the ear positioned in the arched wall 11 and spaced therefrom.

In the treatment of ladies hair, such as by permanent and water waving, it is customary to directa blast of heated air onto the hair for drying the same and it is a further practice in this art to enclose the waved hair with a hair net for holding the waves in position during such drying operation. As shown in Figure 7, a screen or guard 10 is placed in enclosing relation to each ear andthe hair net N is then applied to cover the hair wave and the screens or guards, the hair net acting to retain the screens or guards in position in enclosing relation to the ears. The hair is then dried in the usual manner and the ears are protected from the heated air so that permanent or water waving or washing of the hair may be accomplished and the subsequent drying thereof without any discomfort to a per- .son, as it is a well known fact that the ears are highly sensitive to heat, and the ear screens or guards fully protect the ears from such heat.

In the formof invention illustrated in Figures enclosing relation to the ears of the user as shown in Figure 4.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 6, the screen or guard 10b has the arched wall 11b and the head engaging flange 12b at its open side, the outer side of the arched wall 11b carrying a pair of spaced lugs 14b between which the ends of the resilient strip 151) are received for holding the screens or guards operatively positioned relative to the ears.

Another form of the invention is shown in Figures 8 and 9, the screen or guard 100 being formed from a blank of sheet material 16 of ovate or pear-shape having a central longitudinal slit 17 at its larger end providing flap sections 18. The blank 16 is manipulated to place the flap sections 18 in overlying relations as at 18a, shown in Figure 9, thus forming the blank into cupshape to provide the screen or guard, the flaps being so retained by adhesive or other means. This device is extremely simple in construction and can be inexpensively manufactured, and fully protects the ear of a person from heat during hair drying or other treatments.

From the above detailed description of the invention, it is believed that the construction and use thereof will at once be apparent and while there are herein shown and described the pre ferred embodiments of the invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

, I claim:---

1. Means for protection of the ears of a person during hair drying and other treatments comprising a guard formed from a blank of ovate-shape longitudinally slitted at its larger end to provide flaps and said flaps being overlapped to transform the blank int'o cup-formation.

2. Means for protection of ears of a person during hair drying and other treatments, comprising a guard formed from a blank of ovateshape and normally flat, and portions of said blank being. movable to overlapping relations whereby the blank is bulged outwardly over the entire area thereof into cup-formation providing an uninterrupted marginal edge.

3. An ear protector comprising a guard formed from a blank of ovate-shape, normally flat and having symmetrical uninterrupted edges, said blank having a slit extending inwardly from the edge thereof, the portions of the blank adjacent the slit being movable to overlapping relation whereby the flat blank is bulged outwardly over the entire area thereof into cup-formation with uninterrupted marginal edges.

REBECCA K. BURRITT. 

